Lorient – Lille Preview

As expected Lorient made a very poor game last round against Nice (lost 3-1). They had to without a couple of players but that’s no excuse for moving in slow motion and being absent minded.

Players involved in the defensive phase were often caught off guard and keeper Lecomte was left all alone to face the opponents. It’s not like Lorient were more focused on the offensive phase and were caught on counters, no, all players respected their positions but were too rigid and slow to keep up with opponents.

Lorient will welcome back a couple of players after injury: defender Kone, midfielder Coutadeur and forward Lavigne. The overall strength won’t be improved by much as the most important player, striker Ayew will miss once again (African Cup of Nations).

Lorient have loaned-in striker Bruno from Evian but his skills aren’t enough to make any difference…

Lille controlled the entire game last round against Caen (won 1-0). Even when they were defending Lille were in charge and had no troubles in rejecting all incoming actions.

Lille were always strong from a defensive point of view and there was always a high level of organization. The major problems were in the offensive phase as Lille lack creativity and speed. However last round there was a small improvement even if they scored only once.

They managed to create a couple of fast paced actions, especially on the right flank where fullback Sidibe advanced and served many good balls for forward Rouxw who was also more active than usual and even delivered an assist.

Judging by Lorient’s performances in 2015 their form is getting poorer as day goes by while Lille are at the opposite end and they are constantly improving. Lille DNB 1.97